A takeover of troubled Sharp Corp. looked like a done deal Thursday morning but a big maybe by Thursday afternoon as Taiwanese buyer Foxconn Techonology Group appeared to get cold feet, according to media reports.
The Wall Street Journal reported Foxconn, the maker of iPhones and other electronics, had reached and then paused a nearly $6 billion deal to buy Sharp, which has two subsidiaries in Camas that together employ about 230 people.
Local company representatives have told The Columbian a change in ownership shouldn’t affect operations or employment levels.
“At this point, there is no intent to change Sharp’s campus in Camas where Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas and Sharp Laboratories of America are located,” John Marck, president of Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas, said in a statement Thursday.
According to Journal reports, Sharp Corp., a century-old Japanese company, made a “surprise” disclosure of about $3.1 billion in possible financial risks that Foxconn would absorb in a takeover. The disclosure came just before Sharp’s board decided to sell to Foxconn.
“We will have to postpone any signing of a definitive agreement until we have arrived at a satisfactory understanding and resolution of the situation,” Foxconn said in a statement.
Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., has aggressively pursued Sharp while a Japanese firm, Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, has also looked to pick up Sharp, according to wire reports.
Just three weeks ago, Foxconn’s chairman, Terry Gou, said the deal was “90 percent there” after doubling the bid made by INCJ.
Gou added: “There will be no breakup of Sharp. I guarantee that the Sharp brand will go on.”
A report by Bloomberg says a foreign company owning a major Japanese firm would be a “shift” for the country, “where struggling companies have long been protected and supported financially by the government and banks.”
Sharp Corp. has faced heavy losses that last year saw it look for a bailout that led to the possible Foxconn or INCJ takeover.
Sharp, trading as SHCAY on the U.S. market, saw shares fall 21 percent Thursday.
Brooks Johnson: 360-735-4547; brooks.johnson@columbian.com; twitter.com/readbrooks
